Past Chairs

History of the Biomedical Acoustics TC

This TC began life in 1984 as the Bioresponse to Vibration Technical Committee. Prior to this date, Physical Acoustics typically acted as the home for Bioresponse/Biomedical Ultrasound activities at ASA meetings. The early scope of the Technical Committee addressed the effects of vibration on the body, touch as communication sense, and the effects of infrasound and ultrasound. As member interest evolved, ultrasound applications became more visible within the TC and, in 1996, the name was modified to Bioresponse to Vibration/Biomedical Ultrasound. Ultrasound then rapidly overtook bioresponse as the primary interest and shortly after, in 1998, the name components were swapped to Biomedical Ultrasound/Bioresponse to Vibration.

This name was rather unwieldy, but stayed intact until 2010 when, hopefully for the last time, the name was changed to Biomedical Acoustics. The members of the TC felt this name was broad enough to encompass the diverse interests of the TC and that it represented a name more in line with the vocabulary typically associated with the field. More details on the history of the TC, along with brief timeline charts, can be found in the BB chapter of the commemorative volume ASA at 75 (Henry E. Bass & William J. Cavanaugh, Editors). Also, a very nice history of medical ultrasound has been put together by Dr. Joseph Woo with a detailed chronology of technology and scientific contributions.

Biomedical Acoustics is one of the smaller TCs in the society, but also one of the more active in terms of special sessions and volunteer effort. The historical ASA membership interest in the TC is shown below in terms of year and the TC interest rank selected by members. It can be seen that the TC has grown quite a bit over the last 25 years and, presently, over 500 members have expressed some level of interest in the TC based on their rank of top three TC interests.

Annual Reports

• 2008-2009
• 2009-2010
• 2010-2011